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Labor market integration and migration: impacts on skill formation and the wage structure

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  • BEHRENS, Kristian
  • SATO, Yasuhiro

Abstract

We analyze the impacts of labor market integration and migration on skill formation, wage structures, and per capita GDP of host and source countries. To do so, we propose a model in which heterogeneous agents invest in the acquisition of skills, and in which final good production exhibits increasing returns to scale in the range of available skills. Labor market integration, by allowing for migration in response to wage differentials, changes the wage structures and, therefore, the incentives to become skilled in both host and source countries. We show that our model can largely replicate the empirical evidence concerning international migration, the widening international income dispersion, the narrowing national income dispersion, and the divergence in the rates of skill formation in host and source countries.

Suggested Citation

  • BEHRENS, Kristian & SATO, Yasuhiro, 2006. "Labor market integration and migration: impacts on skill formation and the wage structure," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2006001, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    • Handle: RePEc:cor:louvco:2006001
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    Cited by:

    1. Ryusuke Ihara & Shizu Yamamoto, 2012. "Does labor diversity cause agglomeration in Japan?: an NEG approach with a covariance structure analysis," ERSA conference papers ersa12p430, European Regional Science Association.
    2. Ryusuke Ihara, 2011. "Agglomeration with the pros and cons of labor heterogeneity," ERSA conference papers ersa11p528, European Regional Science Association.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    labor market integration; migration; skill heterogeneity; skill formation; income inequalities.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

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